The Use of and the Attitudes toward Slang Expressing Surprise and Disbelief among Young Americans

The Use of and the Attitudes toward Slang Expressing Surprise and Disbelief among Young Americans Phạm Hoài Anh Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: Prof.Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân Năm bảo vệ: 2009 Abstract: This paper examines critically the use of slang to express surprise and disbelief by American young people in the aspects of frequency of use, reasons and contexts for use, as well as the usage of these slangisms by identifying old-fashioned and up-to-date expressions and classifying them based on social context and degree of user’s emotion charge. The later part of the research investigates young Americans’ attitudes toward slang and the rapport between the attitudes and social aspects like age, gender and education. The data gathered point out that first, slang is employed at high frequency by the young, and there exists a correlation between frequency of use and social aspects. Second, slang is used for many purposes, but American youth mainly use slang for fun, to be humorous and innovative. Third, regarding contexts for slang use, slang can cause shock or rudeness when used improperly; however, there are many situations in everyday life where slang is allowed, even preferred. Fourth, according to the trend in use, outdated and current slang terms have been recognized. In the perspective of pragmatics, they have been grouped into three main situations based on contexts; they have also been divided into three main groups of different levels of emotion. This categorization is hoped to help ESL speakers use them appropriately in each real-life setting. Finally, the research indicates that American young people are strongly tolerant of slang use. There is also evidence that there exists a relationship between attitudes toward slang use and such aspects. Likewise, males reveal that they are more tolerant of slang use than females; the older people are and the higher level of education they have, the less tolerance they have for slang. The study is aimed at providing useful information for teachers, students, and translators, for a better understanding of slang, which is conventionally considered as a vulgar, offensive, and profane form of language, yet of vitality in a society. It is expected that the increased awareness of the issues would result in more suitable strategies for Vietnamese-American cross-cultural communication, Communicative English teaching, and translation. Keywords:Tiếng Anh; Tiếng lóng; Giao tiếp. Content: 6 CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements Abstract Contents List of Tables and Charts Abbreviations i ii iii vi vii PART A - INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale 1.1. Problem statement 1.2. Significance of the study 2. Aims of the study 3. Scope of the study 4. Methodology 4.1. Research questions 4.2. Methods 5. Design of the study 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEOREICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1. Slang 1.1.1. What is slang? 1.1.2. What slang is NOT? 1.1.3. Slang as an integral part of youth culture 1.1.4. Slang as a language variety 1.1.4.1. Slang as a register 1.1.4.2. Slang and social aspects of language variation 1.1.5. Social functions of slang 1.1.6. Lexicological and semantic classifications of slang 6 6 7 8 8 8 9 10 11 7 1.2. Expressing surprise and disbelief via slang - a speech act 1.2.1. Speech act and speech act classification 1.2.2. Speech Act Theory 1.2.3. “Expressing surprise and disbelief via slang” as a speech act 1.3. American slang and its role in today’s American society 1.3.1. American slang and its characteristics 1.3.2. Importance and prevalence of slang in today’s American society 1.3.3. History of American Youth Slang (AYS) 1.4. Summary 13 13 13 14 15 15 15 16 18 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1. Aim of the Empirical Study 2.2. Methodology 2.3. Data collection methods 2.3.1. Questionnaire survey 2.3.2. Follow-up interviews 2.3.3. Participant observations 2.4. Conclusion 19 19 19 19 19 21 21 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 3.1. Data presentation 3.1.1. Description of the population sample 3.1.2. Backgrounds of the respondents 3.2. Findings and discussions 3.2.1. The use of slang expressing surprise and disbelief 3.2.1.1. Frequency of slang use 3.2.1.1.1. Age and frequency of use 3.2.1.1.2. Gender and frequency of use 3.2.1.1.3. Education and frequency of use 3.2.1.2. Reasons for using slang 3.2.1.3. Contexts for slang use 3.2.1.3.1. Non-acceptability contexts 22 22 22 23 23 23 24 25 25 26 28 28 8 3.2.1.3.2. Mid-acceptability contexts 3.2.1.3.3. High-acceptability contexts 3.2.1.4. Classifying slangisms according to the trend in use 3.2.1.4.1. Out-of-date slangisms 3.2.1.4.2. Contemporary slangisms 3.2.1.5. Pragmatic classification of contemporary slangisms 3.2.1.5.1. Based on the social contexts 3.2.1.5.2. Based on the degree of emotion 3.2.2. Attitudes toward slang use 3.2.2.1. Age and attitudes toward slang use 3.2.2.2. Gender and attitudes toward slang use 3.2.2.3. Education and attitudes toward slang use 3.3. Summary 29 30 31 31 32 33 33 35 37 38 39 39 40 PART C –CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Conclusions 2. Recommendations 2.1. For ESL teachers 2.2. For ESL learners 2.3. For ESL translators 41 42 42 42 43 REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix A. 20 Slangisms of surprise and disbelief Appendix B. Invitation Letter Appendix C. Questionnaire on American Slang Appendix D. List of additional slangisms of surprise and disbelief provided by respondents Appendix E. Commonly used slangisms of surprise and disbelief in America today 44 I I III IV IX X 11 PART A – INTRODUCTION 6. Rationale 1.1. Problem statement David Burke, the author of Biz Talk series – the bestsellers of American business slang and jargon, begins his book by quoting a common complaint by visitors to America, “What are the natives saying?! This isn‟t the English I learned in school!” (1993, p.vii). This can be traced to what he calls “confusing yet popular „inside‟ language used by the inhabitants: slang” (1993, p.vii). Slang is a special type of vocabulary, existing in every language and reflecting the country‟s social and cultural aspects. Different countries even speaking the same language possess a different slang vocabulary. Slang is often an easy, informal way to communicate. However, it is often perplexing for international students, because the meanings of slang terms are not necessarily in the dictionary and cannot be taken literally. In the United States, the prevalence of slang now is much beyond the expectation of linguists. Slang frequently appears in daily conversations, movies, literature, newspapers and magazines. Understanding and ability to use slang in communication, hence, is of great necessity for ESL users. About the importance of American slang, Parshall (1994, p.23) puts, “slang supplies more than 10 percent of the words the average American knows”, of which slang expressions of surprise and disbelief account for quite a large number, as the Americans have a high frequency of showing surprise and disbelief through verbal communication in their daily life. Now there is a realization that slang - youth language - may be more important than previously thought. This area, therefore, is not quite mistreated as it was. However, in Vietnam, where much more attention is habitually paid to Standard English, slang is still ignored by both linguists, ESL teachers and even ESL learners. The main reason for the neglect, perhaps, arises from people‟s perception that slang, which is a sublanguage of a subculture, is not widely acceptable. Another reason why both ESL teachers and learners take no notice of slang because they do not for sure how frequent slang is used and how to employ it properly in daily communication. Some writers (Nguyen Van Khang being an influential example) have touched this field, but mostly limited to introducing definitions of slang and contemporary slang terms in dictionaries. The problem lies in these dictionaries themselves, wherein the 12 lexicographers usually bring in a slang term along with its meaning and an example of use only. This really challenges ESL speakers because they do not know in what context and with whom the slang item should be used to avoid failure in communication. Also, they do not know various nuances denoted in a slangism, especially those expressing emotion and feeling, to use it at best. Another question lies in previous studies which point out that slang is youth language, and that it is frequently employed and accepted by the youth. But whether there exist dissimilarities in the use of slang and attitudes toward slang among the young people remains unanswered. For all the justifications above, the author aspires to conduct the study entitled “Slangisms expressing surprise and disbelief with young Americans: The use and attitudes”. It is hoped that the study will be a contribution to the understanding of the nature of slang, American youth‟s use of and attitudes toward slang, as well as providing useful recommendations of how to use this special kind of vocabulary to ESL teachers, students and translators. 1.2. Significance of the study Slang is generally labeled as a linguistic taboo that should not be appearing in most formal social occasions. However, to my mind, slang is worthy of the attention of researchers in its own right; further, as an exciting and controversial form of language which belongs to young people and to youth culture in colloquial contexts, it is a valuable topic for discussions of sociolinguistic and pragmatic issues. Commenting on the approaches toward the study of slang, Nekvapil puts that, “The lexicographic approach dominates, often complemented by grammatical or word-formation analyses” (1987, p.195). While etymological and semantic studies of slang have been recently common, other approaches to research on slang are rarely seen. Therefore, this paper, which is a sociolinguistic investigation of American people‟s attitudes toward slang and their use of slang, holds great academic merits. Equally important, whereas slang is conventionally classified in the light of lexicology and semantics, this pragmatic classification of slang, therefore, is obviously a milestone. Further, by identifying current and common slang terms and how to use them in certain contexts, the studies directly benefit Vietnamese-American cross-cultural communication, 13 Communicative English teaching, and translation. Such information can be of particular help to ESL teachers, who are often puzzled about what register of English to stress in instruction. The study can also be useful to ESL students, who must understand not only the meaning of a slang term in everyday conversation but also the appropriate social context for using it in order not to offend people. Finally, Vietnamese translators can take the most of recommendations from the research when facing with a number of slang expressions in movies, papers, magazines, etc., because the subtleties of using slang in a foreign language are always filled with difficulties. 7. Aims of the study The aims of the study are as follows: a. To explore the use of slang of surprise and disbelief by American youth, specifically - to find out frequency of use, reasons and contexts for slang use, - to identify current and commonly-used American slangisms of surprise and disbelief; - to classify those slang expressions in the light of pragmatics. b. To investigate attitudes toward slang use of American young people and the correlation between these attitudes and social aspects such as age, gender, and education. 8. Scope of the study First, the study deals with verbal aspects of the communication act of expressing surprise and disbelief through slang. The role of non-verbal factors in communication such as paralanguage, proxemics, chronemics and icons is beyond the scope of this study. Second, the study especially focuses on American slangisms expressing surprise and disbelief. Slang of other variations, such as British slang, Australian slang or slang denoting other themes, then, is mentioned but not elaborated. Also, other meanings rather than surprise and disbelief implied in a slang item are not considered in the current study. Third, the data obtained is confined to the informants‟ responses to the questionnaire and follow-up interviews which are not spontaneous discourse. They are, of course, somewhat different from real-life communication. So, the study, rather than reaches fixed conclusions, would give remarks, comments and assumption on the way American young people use slang of surprise and disbelief. Fourth, the investigation concentrates on the use of slang by the youth, which is defined as “young people in general” by Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (Quirk, 14 2003, p.1920). For the feasibility of the investigation, the researcher focuses on the age group of 15-30. Finally yet importantly, the study is limited to the two aspects of language and communication: context and level of emotion, to categorize these slang terms. These aspects are believed to be most important for ESL speakers to be aware of, while communicating with American natives. 9. Methodology 4.1. Research questions In order to meet the aims of the study, the following research questions are generated:  How frequent, for what reasons and in what contexts is slang employed by American youth?  What are current and common American slangisms of surprise and disbelief?  How are these slangisms categorized in the light of pragmatics?  What are the attitudes of American young people toward slang and what is the relationship between these attitudes and aspects like age, gender and education? 4.2. Methods As for the methodology of this slanguage study, it covers both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data collection methods include studying materials, written questionnaire survey, follow-up interviews, personal observation, consulting the supervisor, and discussing with American and Vietnamese colleagues. Written questionnaire survey with the participation of American people, aged from 15 to 30, is the mainstream strategy. Data analysis engages statistics, description and synthesis methods. A balanced and strategic employment of these research methods is expected to generate findings with high reliability and validity. 10. D esign of the study The research paper consists of the following parts: Part A - Introduction introduces the problem leading to the research, as well as the purpose, scope and organization of the study. Part B - Development Chapter I: Theoretical Framework and Literature Review 15 Theoretical background relative to the topic and surveys of articles, books and other resources that are relevant to the study topic are put. This part also provides description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work quoted. Chapter II: Methodology This part presents the detailed procedure of the study: the methodology, population selection, data collection and analysis. 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